The large-scale version update tentatively scheduled for November 25 will bring about a number of changes to the user interface (UI). Among these will be improvements to controls on various menus and screens, an item-sorting feature, and further improvements to targeting and chat systems. In addition to reworking numerous facets of the UI, we will also be implementing a number of new features. This Topics post will introduce and detail a portion of these planned.

Menus

Under the main menu, the Attributes & Gear option will be split into two options, Attributes and Gear. There will also be a Loot option that will be displayed under the Interactions menu whenever an item occupies a player's loot list. Improvements to menu navigation when using a gamepad or keyboard will be made. And finally, the experience and skill point bars currently displayed in the upper left portion while the main menu is open will now be visible on the screen at all times in the same manner as the HP bar.

Attributes The general layout of the Attributes window is being redesigned. Character information will be organized into General Attributes, Skills, and Key Items tabs.

Gear Selecting a slot will restrict the items displayed in the gear list to only those that may be equipped in that slot. Mousing over an item will display that item's icon, statistics, and other information.

Inventory The number of items players and retainers may have in their inventory will be increased by twenty. Currency and Loot tabs will be added. The upper portion of the Inventory window will display a list of items in a player's possession. Highlighting an item will display its icon, statistics, and other information below. * The Wear value for items can currently be viewed at the bottom of the Items tab by clicking on the arrow icon in the lower right, pressing left or right on the directional pad of a gamepad, or by pressing the left or right arrow keys on a keyboard. To eliminate this additional step, an item's Wear value will be incorporated into its details window in the December version update. A sort feature will be added to player inventories. * Enabling the sort feature will organize an inventory by item type. While disabled, items will be listed in the order in which they entered the inventory. * Future version updates will bring additional sort options, both automated and manual. Selecting an item will open a menu containing the Sell Item, Purchase Item, Seek Repairs, Repair, Discard, and Toggle Sort options. Sale prices will be displayed next to items in player and retainer bazaars. Icons representing Unit Price, Set Price, Purchase Item, and Seek Repairs will be added to player and retainer bazaars.

Journal Area names will be displayed on the journal map screen. A player's current location will be displayed on the journal map screen. A history of completed quests will be added.

Retainers Simply selecting an item will move that item to a retainer's inventory. It will become possible to easily exchange gil with retainers from the new Currency tab.

Map Zoom-in and zoom-out functionality will be added to the map screen. Scrolling on the map screen will be possible by dragging the mouse. The log will remain visible while the map screen is open. A map menu will be added in the upper right of the map screen. The location of party members will be displayed on the map screen in real-time.

Configuration A Chat-specific Keyboard setting will be added for players using gamepads. When enabled, this setting allows text to be entered directly without first pressing the spacebar to open the chat prompt. * Key mapping will not be possible while the Chat-specific Keyboard setting is enabled. It will be possible to create new chat log tabs with unique filter settings from the Chat Filters screen. Tab display will be locked regardless of whether the log is active or inactive. Chat filter options will be added for synthesis- and gathering-related messages. Font colors for different chat modes will become selectable.

Other Chat Feature The input bar of the chat log will be displayed continuously. Pressing Ctrl+R will open a /tell prompt addressed to the last player from whom a /tell was received. Pressing Ctrl+S, Ctrl+T, Ctrl+H, Ctrl+P, and Ctrl+L will open /say, /tell, /shout, /party, and /linkshell chat prompts, respectively. The text commands /s, /t (/t <player name>), /p, and /l will be usable to set the chat mode to /say, /tell, /party, and /linkshell modes, respectively.

Text Commands The <pos> command will be usable to display coordinates on the map. The /equip and /item commands will accommodate high-quality items (i.e., items with names containing a +1, +2, etc.). Simultaneously equipping multiple items of the same name to multiple slots with the /equip command will become possible.

Targeting While engaging multiple enemies, a player's cursor will automatically move to the next target when the current target is defeated. Players with no target who are attacked by an enemy will automatically target that enemy. It will be possible to open treasure chests by targeting and selecting them, rather than via the Interactions menu.

Wow, if all of this is really implemented on the 25th, I will be pretty impressed. Though I guess it has taken them a while to release a substantive update. I'll be interested to see what kinks remain in the system and what are mostly cosmetic changes, but I already see what should be some clear improvements.

If nothing else:

Quote:

A Chat-specific Keyboard setting will be added for players using gamepads. When enabled, this setting allows text to be entered directly without first pressing the spacebar to open the chat prompt.

This was always a pain in the *** for me, and I mentioned it numerous times in the feedback forums. Glad to see it addressed.

I guess in light of the extended free month, I can hop on and check it out. It won't be enough to get me to play but it might be a good indication of what kind of progress can be expected in the future.

Never confuse your inference as the listener for an implication of the speaker.

Good games are subjective like good food is subjective. You're not going to seriously tell me that there's not a psychological basis for why pizza is great and lutefisk is revolting. The thing about subjectivity is that, as subjects go, humans actually have a great deal in common.

#3Lokithor,
Posted:Nov 17 2010 at 6:33 AM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) Nice to see the UI changes. This should make it easier to experience all that the game has to offer. Trouble is, there is no content beyond grinding and repetitive levequests. Oh well. At least it's free for another month.

This looks like a hefty list of changes that includes a lot of things I've heard people asking for.

____________________________

lolgaxe wrote:

When it comes to sitting around not doing anything for long periods of time, only being active for short windows, and marginal changes and sidegrades I'd say FFXI players were the perfect choice for politicians.

Not bad, not bad. Could use more content, or at least smooth out the exp curve a bit, but i suppose they don't want us PCers gaining too huge lead.

Oh well i'm enjoying leveling multiple jobs to 20, thankfully the armory system works as intended.

This is 2nd on my list of things to look forward to about the update. I'm more curious about the class adjustments more than anything.

I hope they give gladiator more DD potential i'm all for a solid tank but i think they should avoid characters that are too specialized lest the versatile characters utility be pushed aside by the more uncreative party leaders.

Not bad, not bad. Could use more content, or at least smooth out the exp curve a bit, but i suppose they don't want us PCers gaining too huge lead.

Actually, this is just the tip of the update! They are reducing the sp needed to get to 20 and the SP gaining mechanics (I -think- I read that last part, not 100% sure).

In any case, I'm really giddy about this lodestone post. Transparency like this with the development team really puts players at ease. Personally it made me very happy to hear these changes will be implemented because (even though they are basic gameplay changes that should have been there since the beginning) I feel it'll improve the intake from many players on XIV quite highly.

As I said before, XIV is a gold nugget covered with crap (the UI). Now that its getting polished those who haven't seen its real shine will be able to!

Not bad, not bad. Could use more content, or at least smooth out the exp curve a bit, but i suppose they don't want us PCers gaining too huge lead.

I don't think they really care about that. Despite all the roadblocks in place, there are already people Rank 50. No, this is what they needed to fix desperately and I'm glad they prioritized the UI fixes. When the next round of reviews come around, they would read exactly the same if they had added content instead of the *little* things. Folks will never get to the point of evaluating content if they are stuck in a clunky UI, so this is the best thing to work on first.

#11HachiLihachi,
Posted:Nov 17 2010 at 9:01 AM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) The changes are good and will improve the game dramatically. However they took 2 months at the very best. If trivial changes to UI take this long it will take years to bring this game to the level of FFXI at NA release.

The changes are good and will improve the game dramatically. However they took 2 months at the very best. If trivial changes to UI take this long it will take years to bring this game to the level of FFXI at NA release.

I highly doubt completely changing the foundation code to build the UI, is something that falls under the category of "trivial."

And you should look at their planned schedule up to the first update of next year. Game is more than playable by December in a lot of people's views.

a bit off topic, but last night i logged in and noticed a very significant improvement to my UI lag. I was equipping equipment and abilities through the menu rather than macros just to confirm this and it was by far the most smooth I have experienced thus far. Could this just been b/c a slow night (about 700 ppl online) or has other people noticed this as well. Did they make changes to server load with the maintenance two days ago that I'm not aware of?

anyways, any improvement is welcome, even if it may have just been a placebo effect on my part. Although i asked a few other ppl in game and they also noticed the same thing. Looking forward to the nov. 25 update to further improve the UI among other things.

Wow wow wow finally man this is some awesome needed changes the targeting has been a huge pet peeve of mine since beta. They may just get me to stick around longer and I will add 20 slots isn't enough if they keep all this +1 +2 +3 mats crap lol...

I wish people would stop saying how good the game is gonna be, until AFTER the patch. Keep in mind, these patches could end up breaking other aspects of the game, or even make a bad game element even worse.

I wish people would stop saying how good the game is gonna be, until AFTER the patch. Keep in mind, these patches could end up breaking other aspects of the game, or even make a bad game element even worse.

While it's true that it's a good idea to take any promise in life with a grain of salt, don't you think you're taking it a bit too far? Expecting this update to break the game is a far more unrealistic expectation than expecting it will make the game more enjoyable.

It's almost as if you want the update to go wrong so you can say, "Told you so!". But the time will come when you have to realize that SE is fixing FFXIV and there's nothing you can do about it.

"Expecting this update to break the game is a far more unrealistic expectation than expecting it will make the game more enjoyable. "

Look what they did to the conjurer class, when they Fixed the SP glitch.

And I find the market wards to be in a worse state now, than they were before they "renamed" the wards. Now, you go into a specific ward to find something, only to find crap. Talk about "expectations" LOL

I wish people would stop saying how good the game is gonna be, until AFTER the patch. Keep in mind, these patches could end up breaking other aspects of the game, or even make a bad game element even worse.

While it's true that it's a good idea to take any promise in life with a grain of salt, don't you think you're taking it a bit too far? Expecting this update to break the game is a far more unrealistic expectation than expecting it will make the game more enjoyable.

It's almost as if you want the update to go wrong so you can say, "Told you so!". But the time will come when you have to realize that SE is fixing FFXIV and there's nothing you can do about it.

It's a fair point, but I agree it was put forward inappropriately.

When they push all these changes live, it's entirely possible that things are going to be wonky for a while. It's one thing to bug test in the studios and another thing entirely to have your game bug tested by 50,000+ people simultaneously. To go into a major patch expecting everything to work smoothly with no new bugs, no lag, no server crashes...that's just naive. We can hope for a smooth patch, but there's a certain wisdom in being mentally prepared for technical issues.

Having said that, there's no point being pessimistic about the patches because there might be bugs or issues that go along with them. The fact of the matter is that these changes will be implemented and any bugs or other issues that creep up as a result of them will be fixed in due time. Any reasonable person who has spent any amount of time playing MMOs knows that. And anyone who uses it as a basis to tell others not to be enthusiastic about a patch looks like they're just trying as hard as they can to remain negative.

The changes are good and will improve the game dramatically. However they took 2 months at the very best. If trivial changes to UI take this long it will take years to bring this game to the level of FFXI at NA release.

I highly doubt completely changing the foundation code to build the UI, is something that falls under the category of "trivial."

And you should look at their planned schedule up to the first update of next year. Game is more than playable by December in a lot of people's views.

It's not "foundation code", it's the UI - new menus, buttons etc. It's supposed to be trivial, if FF XIV UI is not trivial to change my point still stands - it will take a lot of time to do something more than add a button (like roll out a new UI for, say, AH). As for your experience of playing game in December - good to know, it's still November over here and it's nice people from December keep us updated. Unfortunately it's hard to trust you, the people of the future, after you have informed us that changing tax in market wards has fixed the market.

Journal Area names will be displayed on the journal map screen. A player's current location will be displayed on the journal map screen. A history of completed quests will be added.

I would like to see a lot more added to the Journal. I would like to be able to add my own in-game notes to it. Mob locations, drops, and harvesting locations. Sure I am writing it all down in a notebook, but having it in-game to share would be great.

And I find the market wards to be in a worse state now, than they were before they "renamed" the wards. Now, you go into a specific ward to find something, only to find crap. Talk about "expectations" LOL

I'm having a much easier time finding the stuff I need lately. The top ward is still a mess of course, but the other ones are working quite well. As a weaver I'm able to pickup rivets, buckles, breastpins, leather, shoulderguards, straps & dyes quickly and where they should be. Usually on my server Ul'dah is the best place for this. Many have started to use that as a centralized market.

Anyway, it's a lot better than it was before that's for sure. The search function will be a great addition.

It also requires the players to make some effort to make it work. Not all are willing to bother and some find joy in purposely jacking it up.

The changes are good and will improve the game dramatically. However they took 2 months at the very best. If trivial changes to UI take this long it will take years to bring this game to the level of FFXI at NA release.

I highly doubt completely changing the foundation code to build the UI, is something that falls under the category of "trivial."

And you should look at their planned schedule up to the first update of next year. Game is more than playable by December in a lot of people's views.

It's not "foundation code", it's the UI - new menus, buttons etc. It's supposed to be trivial, if FF XIV UI is not trivial to change my point still stands - it will take a lot of time to do something more than add a button (like roll out a new UI for, say, AH). As for your experience of playing game in December - good to know, it's still November over here and it's nice people from December keep us updated. Unfortunately it's hard to trust you, the people of the future, after you have informed us that changing tax in market wards has fixed the market.

Actually it is foundation code. The UI is merely the way in which you interact with the core code. If the core functionality is not there, then it can be a massive undertaking to make it there so that it can be connected through the UI. Keep in mind, there are three parts of every program: Input; Output; processing. The hard part is the processing. Input and Output are easy if the processing is there (and I am not talking processing like processor, but rather the internal logic that makes the fantastic leap from you clicking a menu option, and all of a sudden every character in the ward you are currently in is cataloged, and the items they own are displayed to you).

Assuming all the code was already in place, then yes, it would be trivial to connect it through the UI, and test it, and send it out the door.

Based on the very short period of time that they have been working on this stuff, most of it is trivial. There were probably large portions already in place, or they remapped existing functionality to new methods. But to say that foundation for all of these changes were in place, and SE was just not bothering until now to connect it all is kind of silly.

Unfortunately application design is not like web design where there is assumed logic in place for actions taken. For an application every detail has to be covered, and that means if you want to click something on the screen, it is not as easy as saying handle Object1.OnClick().

Keep in mind this is not a full list of every change that is coming with the Nov 25 update. That being said, I'm very pleased with what they've announced so far and very happy they've been going into more detail about their future updates. I REALLY hope this trend continues for the rest of FFXIV's life cycle. It really does seem like they're trying to win back the trust of the community and they're succeeding so far (At least for me).

Mousing over an item will display that item's icon, statistics, and other information.

You know what this tells me? That they FINALLY have admitted that PC users have different needs and expectations than console users. I can't wait to see how this one is implemented, because it's one of my favorite features in other games to be able to just quickly mouse across my gear and double check a stat.

Mousing over an item will display that item's icon, statistics, and other information.

You know what this tells me? That they FINALLY have admitted that PC users have different needs and expectations than console users. I can't wait to see how this one is implemented, because it's one of my favorite features in other games to be able to just quickly mouse across my gear and double check a stat.

Excellent.

My LS was just commenting on this yesterday. The interviews seem to alude to the fact that they didn't really consider a different UI for PC users until recently. There was a reference to some study/poll/survey that showed that most Japanese PC gamers use a controller for gaming. It's possible that this is what made the developers unaware of a need for a separate UI. I'm not saying that ignorance is an acceptable defense, rather that this could be one of the reasons they didn't really see it as a requirement until now.

Mousing over an item will display that item's icon, statistics, and other information.

You know what this tells me? That they FINALLY have admitted that PC users have different needs and expectations than console users. I can't wait to see how this one is implemented, because it's one of my favorite features in other games to be able to just quickly mouse across my gear and double check a stat.

Excellent.

My LS was just commenting on this yesterday. The interviews seem to alude to the fact that they didn't really consider a different UI for PC users until recently. There was a reference to some study/poll/survey that showed that most Japanese PC gamers use a controller for gaming. It's possible that this is what made the developers unaware of a need for a separate UI. I'm not saying that ignorance is an acceptable defense, rather that this could be one of the reasons they didn't really see it as a requirement until now.

Mousing over an item will display that item's icon, statistics, and other information.

You know what this tells me? That they FINALLY have admitted that PC users have different needs and expectations than console users. I can't wait to see how this one is implemented, because it's one of my favorite features in other games to be able to just quickly mouse across my gear and double check a stat.

Excellent.

My LS was just commenting on this yesterday. The interviews seem to alude to the fact that they didn't really consider a different UI for PC users until recently. There was a reference to some study/poll/survey that showed that most Japanese PC gamers use a controller for gaming. It's possible that this is what made the developers unaware of a need for a separate UI. I'm not saying that ignorance is an acceptable defense, rather that this could be one of the reasons they didn't really see it as a requirement until now.

Also, games were meant to be played on controllers = P

Bah I haven't used a joystick or controller on a pc in years imho PC games should be designed for mouse and keyboard first those are the basic tools on every pc and console games = controller...

Mousing over an item will display that item's icon, statistics, and other information.

You know what this tells me? That they FINALLY have admitted that PC users have different needs and expectations than console users. I can't wait to see how this one is implemented, because it's one of my favorite features in other games to be able to just quickly mouse across my gear and double check a stat.

Excellent.

My LS was just commenting on this yesterday. The interviews seem to alude to the fact that they didn't really consider a different UI for PC users until recently. There was a reference to some study/poll/survey that showed that most Japanese PC gamers use a controller for gaming. It's possible that this is what made the developers unaware of a need for a separate UI. I'm not saying that ignorance is an acceptable defense, rather that this could be one of the reasons they didn't really see it as a requirement until now.

While engaging multiple enemies, a player's cursor will automatically move to the next target when the current target is defeated. Players with no target who are attacked by an enemy will automatically target that enemy.

I honestly don't care what anyone says from here on in, the amount of changes hitting us on Nov 25th is huge and it more then justifies waiting 2 months for it. I am not just talking about the UI updates ethier.

However, I do have one worry. Changes of this magnitude to a system is bound to create further *unforseen* issues, not just the UI changes, but all the changes they have in store for Nov 25th, those who have been playing MMORPG's for the last decade will know all to well what I speak of.

I can only hope that SE's in house testing is A grade and 99% accurate, because god forbid if we have to listen to another 2 months of whining and ******** about them failing at patching a *supposably* broken game with a broken patch.

I honestly don't care what anyone says from here on in, the amount of changes hitting us on Nov 25th is huge and it more then justifies waiting 2 months for it. I am not just talking about the UI updates ethier.

No, it doesn't. The fact they didn't charge a sub on top of the box while we waited makes it better, though.

Taemek wrote:

However, I do have one worry. Changes of this magnitude to a system is bound to create further *unforseen* issues, not just the UI changes, but all the changes they have in store for Nov 25th, those who have been playing MMORPG's for the last decade will know all to well what I speak of.

I can only hope that SE's in house testing is A grade and 99% accurate, because god forbid if we have to listen to another 2 months of whining and ******** about them failing at patching a *supposably* broken game with a broken patch.

Well, we know for a fact SE's inhouse testing is neither "Grade A" nor "99% accurate", or they would never have needed outside alpha/beta testers to begin with (not that they really utilized those additional free resources anyway).

And the game is not "supposedly" broken, it is broken; as has already been confirmed continually by those responsible for it.

Will the patches make a lot of difference? Absolutely. Will the patches break almost as much as they fix? Undoubtedly. As long as SE doesn't wait a week to fix any patch problems, it should be all good though.

All on the list seems like a great improvement. I can't wait to see it and play around with font colors and chat filters. Going to be a good first update to get some people back or at least have their eyes looking out for more goodies.

I really wish people would give it up on the whole content update thing for now. I get it, besides crafting, leveling and a few class/main story quests, there isn't a lot to do. That being said, there's so many other things they need to focus on first before implementing new content. If you implement new content while keeping everything the way it is, it really won't attract that many more people, everything to do that content with is still broken.

SE is headed the right way right now, they're trying to make their game functional and enjoyably functional. Once that's settled, then I'm all for it, bring out some more content.